Thou wilt hear us; thou wilt graciously say, it is my people; and we, in humble thankfulness, shall say, the Lord is our God." Let thine heritage, the Church, which thou hast purchased with thy Blood, be no longer defiled by the lamentable ignorance and abominable stupidity, which contemptuously refuse to hear the calls of Truth, and impiously set at nought the exhortations of Piety.

But whatever shall be the effect of the Holy Word in my mouth; whether I am encouraged to meditation, study, and labour, by the increase of morals, and the prevalence of Religion; or humbled and depressed by ignorance of the Laws, and contempt of thy Word, let me not be discontented and impatient, but wait thy good time, when it shall please thee to give the increase. May judg ment direct, and zeal stimulate me to try every method, and adopt every expedient, to convert sinners unto thee. And oh! if it be thy blessed will, let me not labour in vain. May the hearts of all those over whom thon hast appointed me to watch, be induced to "receive the word with meek"ness," to apply it with fidelity, and to" bring forth "the fruits of the Spirit." May the quiet of families, the obedience of servants, the kindness of masters, the duty of children, and the affection of parents, all result from the preaching of thy Holy Word. May the study of the Sacred Oracles employ their leisure, and edify their minds; and may it be thy good pleasure, to "make a covenant of peace with them, to set thy Sanctuary in the midst of

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them, that they may be thy people, and thou be their God, in truth and in righteousness." Produce, I humbly implore thee, this conversion unto thee, this change of will and renewal of heart, that as often as thou shalt call those entrusted to me, to give an account of their conduct, I may have the consolation of believing that they have " died in thy faith and fear; that their peace was made with thee; and that their names were written in the Book of Life !"

When I pray that all the flock may be thine, humbly and earnestly do I beseech thee, that the Shepherd may not be abandoned of thee. Let not my unworthiness to minister at the altar, be the cause of my reprobation: but when Thou shalt summon me to give an account of my stewardship-of my behaviour as a Man, of my piety as a Christian, and of my fidelity as a Ministergrant that my soul may be supported by faith, and enlivened with hope; that the retrospect of a life passed in "keeping thy commandments," in preaching thy word, and promoting thy Glory, may smooth the face of death, and bereave the grave of all its terrors.

And whilst I implore thy blessing on my labors, and on the people committed to my charge, beseeching thee, that our lives may be holy, in order that our deaths may be happy, I pour out my soul in supplications, that thy gospel may dispense its benign influence through every land: may it be faith

fully preached, and conscientiously practised; and may it be productive, in the hands of all thy Ministers, of the everlasting salvation of those to whom it is announced. May the peace which it proclaims, be universally established, and nation go to war with nation no more: may the several families of the earth be actuated by religious principles; and may concord and unanimity, brotherly love and Christian charity, be the distinguishing characteristics of all those-to whatever sect they belong, and to whatever party they are attached"who name the name of Christ."

Above all, I humbly entreat thee, that thy Providence may, in an especial manner, be extended over this thy Church, "which thy own right hand hath planted;" do thou be pleased to dwell in the midst of it, that it may be called, "the dwelling of the truth, and the mountain of the Lord of Hosts, the holy mountain: may the inhabitants of every city and of every place, go one to another, saying, let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts in his holy Temple ;" may it no longer be said of any of its members, that they trust not in the Lord, and that they draw not near to their God;" but do thou, in mercy "make of them a name and a praise among all people of the earth." May the Gospel be preached in it, in all its purity, and may the lives of its Ministers be its brightest ornaments; "may the law of truth be in their mouth, and let not iniquity be found in their lips; may they walk before thee in

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peace and equity, and turn many away from their iniquity:" may its worship be duly frequented, and its Sacraments, in particular the commemoration of our Redemption, in the Holy Communion, be religiously observed: may that Blessed Ordinance be no longer "a stone of stumbling" to the ignorant" and a rock of offence" to the weak; but may the "old men, and all the inhabitants of the land, receive it to their comfort," and may it no longer be "the reproach of their children, that they go away from the Heavenly Feast, and do not keep it;" may schism be extirpated from "the habitation of thy House ;" and may attachment to it, proceeding from a conviction of its purity and truth, be individually established; may the voice of joy and salvation be heard in every dwelling; and may the several families of which this thy Church is composed, erect an alter unto thee, and may they daily offer upon it "an oblation of great gladness; saying, blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God, for ever and ever, Amen!"

THE END.